I. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to microwave techniques used in embroidery and, more particularly, to microwave techniques used in embroidered surgical implants.
II. Discussion of the Prior Art
Embroidered structures are created on substrates. Some substrates are designed to stay in place with the embroidered structure while other substrates are removed at some point during the embroidery process. More specifically, some substrates are removed through processes of dissolution. The dissolvable substrate may be formed from acetate or any other material suitable for use as a dissolvable embroidery substrate.
Substrate removal for embroidered surgical implants currently takes up to five hours in a Soxhlet extractor and requires significant quantities of solvent. The removal of the substrate requires the embroidered implants to be fully immersed in the solvent. Thus, long hours and large quantities of solvent are needed to achieve dissolution of the substrate when using a Soxhlet extractor. In addition, large quantities of implants are typically placed in a Soxhlet extractor at once for batch dissolution of the substrates. Since the solvent is dripping down from the upper portion of the Soxhlet extractor onto a pile of embroidered implants, the time that any particular embroidered implant is immersed in the solvent will vary according to its position within the pile.
Furthermore, conventional drying techniques for embroidered surgical implants, such as oven drying or air drying, are time-consuming. Using conventional drying can take hours to fully dry an implant, thus creating bottlenecks in the manufacturing process. In addition, oven drying of some devices could act as the ideal breeding ground for bacteria, making the device difficult to sterilize.
The present invention is directed at overcoming, or at least improving upon, the disadvantages of the prior art.